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The women's self help groups (SHGs) provide both short term and long term improvements to entire communities, as well as to the individual group members. They help to empower women and promote sustainable development initiatives, such as Community Savings Schemes and Small Business Start-ups. Here you can find out more about what a self help group is and read the latest updates about the project.
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Written by Sylvia Gardiner
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Monday, 21 June 2010 18:09 |
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At one of the many stalls we run in the Midlands, LUCIA was approached by a very nice lady who keeps bees. The lady in question has since enquired about the possibility of her beekeeping club supporting a beehive. Perhaps there are other kind, generous beekeepers out there who may wish to join in?
I've visited Ethiopia four out of the last five years (at my own expense) since the charity was founded in 2004/5, and every time I go I'm amazed at the women's ability to work with determination and their will-power to survive against tremendous hardships. I try to visit as many of the projects that LUCIA supports as I can, and I have had the good fortune to meet a lady who keeps a beehive that was sponsored by us.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 29 June 2010 19:03 |
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Written by Sylvia Gardiner
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Monday, 29 June 2009 20:48 |
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On my last visit to Ethiopia in March/April 2009 I visited a few Self Help Groups and was fortunate enough to meet one of the facilitators, a lovely woman named Dinkenesh.
Dinkenesh means “you are beautiful” in Amharic and Lucy in English. This is also the name of the oldest female skeleton in the world which was discovered by Donald Johanson and Tom Gray in Hadar, Ethiopia in 1974.
As the facilitator of the groups, Dinkenesh was in a very good position to tell me how the women responded and progressed through the project. At first, she said, the women have difficulty in coming together and are very hesitant about joining and contributing to the group. Dinkenesh’s first job is to organise them into their roles, choosing who would be the best person to be the treasurer, etc. In the first year the group needs constant support and is continually seeking her help. By the second year they are starting to find and work out their own problems and future targets. On the third and last year they are usually running without any support from Dinkenesh, although she still enjoys their hospitality and friendship.
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Last Updated on Saturday, 04 July 2009 13:30 |
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Written by Sylvia Gardiner
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Wednesday, 29 July 2009 16:31 |
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Twelve women, all with one thing in common: they have HIV/AIDS and are in a country where just being a woman is difficult enough. They live in the Oromo region outside Addis Ababa with two members living in the workshop and the other ten in nearby villages. These women are proud and have no intentions of begging to survive. They have a small craft business, making baskets and crocheted placemats which they try to sell at the markets.
We visited the women at their workshop during our last field trip. Upon our arrival they bowed and shook our hands, delighted that we’d broken our journey to visit them. They told us of the difficulties they have in surviving and how weak the illness could make them but how they are determined to support themselves. We asked if we could take photographs and they said ‘yes that would be alright’, but, as you can see from the photo, some of them did not stop working. It was as though they had to physically demonstrate the importance of their work - that it could not be set aside for a moment.
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Last Updated on Friday, 31 July 2009 01:15 |
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Written by Sylvia Gardiner
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Monday, 01 June 2009 12:42 |
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During our recent trip to Ethiopia we went to meet Kebebush in the region of Wolliso, 114km from Addis Ababa.
Kebebush greeted us with the usual Ethiopia hand shake and the three kisses on our cheek. At the age of 36 years Kebebush's life is very hard. With four children to support and a husband who is out of work and no longer living with the family, she is left with the responsibility of caring for her children on her own.
LUCIA is in partnership with SWDA (Siiqqee Women's Development Association) who runs the sheep/ goat rearing project of which Kebebush is a member. On joining the project Kebebush was given two sheep to rear with the condition that she must increase her herd. After eighteen months on the project Kebebush now has eight sheep.
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Last Updated on Monday, 01 June 2009 13:42 |
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